On Sun, 2012-04-15 at 18:09 +0100, sebb wrote: > On 15 April 2012 17:55, Oleg Kalnichevski <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Sun, 2012-04-15 at 16:38 +0100, sebb wrote: > >> On 15 April 2012 13:29, Oleg Kalnichevski <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > Folks > >> > > >> > It is not a big secret that Google decided to continue shipping the > >> > extremely outdated pre-BETA version of HttpClient instead of upgrading > >> > to a newer version and to steer Android users toward HttpUrlConnection > >> > API. I understand they must have their good reasons. At the same, those > >> > people who may not share Google's enthusiasm about having to migrate to > >> > HttpUrlConnection are left with no viable upgrade options as stock > >> > versions of HttpClient cannot be used in Android. A very common > >> > work-around to this problem is to move HttpClient code to a different > >> > namespace in order to avoid classloader conflicts with Android code. > >> > This can be done either using Maven Shade plugin or a script such as one > >> > developed by Dirk Boye [1]. The downside of this work-around is that the > >> > shaded HttpClient cannot be used with 3rd party libraries such as Spring > >> > compiled against the standard API. > >> > > >> > A better approach might be to 'shade' only implementation classes only > >> > and compile them against the API interfaces and classes shipped with > >> > Android. This could produce a reasonably up to date version of > >> > HttpClient which at the same time can be used as a drop-in replacement > >> > for the outdated Android version. > >> > >> I'm not clear what exactly you are proposing to release. > >> > > > > HttpClient 4.1.3 code sans API interfaces and classes moved to > > 'org.apache.hc.android' namespace or similar. > > So the jar would only contain classes in its own package namespace? > That would certainly avoid classpath issues and Maven coords. > > But I don't see how applications would pick up the different implementation. >
It will not happen automatically but at least one can still create an instance of DefaultHttpClient from the 'org.apache.hc.android.impl.client' package instead of 'org.apache.http.impl.client' and pass it as a dependency to any external library that expects an instance of 'org.apache.http.client.HttpClient'. This may sound like a small thing but this is actually impossible when HttpClient code is 'shaded' to a new namespace wholesale along with all API interfaces. Oleg > > > >> > What I would like to do is to take HttpClient 4.1.3 release tag and > >> > create an Android compatible re-spin with a distinct Maven artifact from > >> > that tag. > >> > >> Maven relies on the artifactId (and groupId, i.e. the coordinates) to > >> know how to build the dependency path. > >> So it's important to know what packages the proposed jars will contain. > >> And it's important not to mislead Maven by supplying incorrect coordinates. > >> > >> Otherwise, Maven could combine incompatible jars on the same classpath > >> - with all the problems that can bring. > >> > > > > I am thinking about creating a copy of HttpClient 4.1.3 in SVN rather > > than trying to repackage existing binary artifacts in some clever way. > > This would enable us to selectively apply changes made by Google to > > their version of HttpClient for better compatibility. > > > >> > If you think this is not a good idea please raise your concerns now. If > >> > I hear no objections, I'll proceed with the development of HttpClient > >> > version for Android and will call a release vote when ready. > >> > >> Luckily it should be quite easy to test the behaviour on Android. > >> I've been playing with Eclipse and the ADT recently, so can provide > >> some feedback on that aspect. > >> > > > > That'd be awesome. > > > > Oleg > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
